Seems odd to me to then call my instructor professor when he has so much more skill and knowledge than me. I thought maybe I'd start calling him master -- not in a slave owner or subservient kind of way -- but in regards to his mastery of bjj.

Seems odd to me to then call my instructor professor when he has so much more skill and knowledge than me. I thought maybe I'd start calling him master -- not in a slave owner or subservient kind of way -- but in regards to his mastery of bjj.

What I see here in Brazil is that Mestre or Master is used only by the students as a form of respect. No true masters call themselves that.

Lets be honest here. I know too many other people outside of BJJ that are bad ass motherfuckers in life that have nothing to do with martial arts that would be more desreving of such a title.

In the grand scheme of things BJJ is very insignificant. We can focus on it, and make it as big as we want to in our minds, but all you have to do is step outside of your BJJ circle jerk and have some regular social experiences with succesful, driven, intellignt, and morally upright people to realize how out of balance your life is when you are calling someone who rolls around on the ground better than most "master".

Master in BJJ is a competitor from ages 31-40. Above that is Senior. If there is an old fart, but still badass enough to kick your ass, you may want refrain from calling him senior and go with master. I prefer sir myself, master sounds like a bsdm thing.

Seems odd to me to then call my instructor professor when he has so much more skill and knowledge than me. I thought maybe I'd start calling him master -- not in a slave owner or subservient kind of way -- but in regards to his mastery of bjj.

What I see here in Brazil is that Mestre or Master is used only by the students as a form of respect. No true masters call themselves that.

I thought it was 5th degree, but don't know why I thought that.

When I teach, I don't care what folks call me. However, when I refer to the higher ranking black belts I always refer to them as Professor So and So. Not because they refer to themselves as that, but as a way to delineate the difference between us and that they were black before me and as a way to show respect. Most of the students still call them by their name, but I still refer to them as Professor as a way to show respect.

Gus77 - Master in BJJ is a competitor from ages 31-40. Above that is Senior. If there is an old fart, but still badass enough to kick your ass, you may want refrain from calling him senior and go with master. I prefer sir myself, master sounds like a bsdm thing.

These guys going around referring to themselves as "Master" are clowns who understand little about the spirit of the martial arts. They may know a thing or two about a few techniques, but they REALLY missed the boat when it comes to understanding some of the SUBTLETIES of martial tradition...

If they want to play the "Master" game, fine... Hope they have fun tricking the uneducated public.

Personally, I couldn't care less what my students call me --BUT-- the bylaws of Shendokai International (the organization which governs the Shendokan & affiliated dojos) INSISTS that I am formally referred to by the honorific title "Grandmaster" at all times. --Honestly, it's more a burden than anything.

Sometimes I almost wish I had left that rule out of the by-laws when I wrote them, but it's too late now to change that.

It depends. In TLI, you can call yourself "Master" at Purple Belt if you are running your own school as an affiliate.

Most others wait a little longer... say 4th degree Black Belt and higher. My friend and coach, Marcelo Pereira just got his 4th and apparently is qualified as a "Master". He ansers to Marcelo or Marcelinho though.

I am a plain Black Belt but have some students who call me "Professor". I just let it go. Everyone else calls me by my first name.

shen - These guys going around referring to themselves as "Master" are clowns who understand little about the spirit of the martial arts. They may know a thing or two about a few techniques, but they REALLY missed the boat when it comes to understanding some of the SUBTLETIES of martial tradition...

If they want to play the "Master" game, fine... Hope they have fun tricking the uneducated public.

Personally, I couldn't care less what my students call me --BUT-- the bylaws of Shendokai International (the organization which governs the Shendokan & affiliated dojos) INSISTS that I am formally referred to by the honorific title "Grandmaster" at all times. --Honestly, it's more a burden than anything.

Sometimes I almost wish I had left that rule out of the by-laws when I wrote them, but it's too late now to change that.

I'd have no problem calling my instructor "master" if he has a red belt. Out of respect.

Not in a "he's my master" way. More so the same way of call a doctor "doctor". They earned the level of master, as in the are a master of bjj, but it would be weird if they enforced it strictly, especially outside class.

I get the feeling some schools call the instructor "master" implying they are the master of the class. That's a little weird and creates a strange vibe, in my opinion.

Reply Post

“This is the official website of the Mixed Martial Arts llc. Commercial
reproduction, distribution or transmission of any part or parts of this website
or any information contained therein by any means whatsoever without the prior
written permission is not permitted.”